Sheet Manufacturing Apparatus Color Control via Segmented Resin Cartridges
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sheet manufacturing apparatuses lack the capability to accurately mix and supply colored resins to achieve a predetermined color in the manufacturing process, leading to inconsistent results.
Innovation Solution
A sheet manufacturing apparatus with multiple resin cartridges and a controller that selects and sets the supply amount of colored resins based on the desired color, ensuring appropriate mixing with raw materials to produce sheets of specific colors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple colored resins are mixed to manufacture sheets with predetermined colors, then the color variety and customization capability are improved, but the control over resin supply amount and mixing ratio becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The resin supply system is segmented into multiple independent resin cartridges, each storing a different colored resin. The controller independently controls the supply amount of each resin cartridge based on predetermined mixing ratios, thereby managing the complexity of mixing multiple colored resins while maintaining color variety.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller preliminarily sets the supply amount of each colored resin based on the desired sheet color and predetermined mixing ratios before the mixing process begins. This preliminary configuration simplifies the control process during actual operation, as the system only needs to execute the pre-calculated supply amounts.
2Manufacturing precision
If the resin supply amount is precisely controlled to achieve accurate color mixing, then the manufacturing precision of sheet color is improved, but the complexity of control settings increases
Solution Approach 1:
The controller changes the supply parameters of each resin cartridge based on the desired sheet color. By adjusting the supply amount parameters according to predetermined mixing ratios, the system achieves accurate color mixing while keeping the control mechanism relatively simple through parameter-based adjustment rather than complex mechanical settings.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where the controller monitors the supply amount of each resin and adjusts it to maintain the predetermined mixing ratios. This feedback control ensures color accuracy while automating the complex control settings, reducing the burden on operators.
3Productivity
If a resin supply unit is added to control and mix colored resins with raw materials, then the manufacturing capability for colored sheets is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The resin supply unit is designed with multi-functionality, serving both to supply colored resins and to control their mixing ratios with raw materials. This universal design consolidates multiple functions into a single apparatus, improving manufacturing capability while minimizing the increase in overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The resin supply unit merges the functions of resin storage, resin supply control, and mixing ratio management into a single integrated system. By combining these functions, the apparatus achieves enhanced manufacturing capability without proportionally increasing complexity, as the components work together in a coordinated manner.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a sheet manufacturing apparatus that is capable of manufacturing a sheet having a predetermined color, the apparatus including: a plurality of resin cartridges that store a plurality of colored resins, respectively; a resin supply unit that supplies a resin from one or the plurality of resin cartridges to a predetermined raw material in a predetermined step of manufacturing a sheet; and a controller that selects a resin cartridge, which is a supply source of a resin, when the resin supply unit supplies the resin, and performs setting related to a supply amount of a resin for each of the selected resin cartridges, based on setting related to a color of a sheet to be manufactured.